Saturday, January 05, 2013

Here is a good read that I found in the National Post, a major newspaper from Canada. I would have to say that contrary to public belief, the Canadians aren’t going to win a WJC every year. It’s just not possible. I also don’t think that it’s realistic to expect them to win a medal every year either. There are good hockey players all-over the world. The USA has closed the gap between us and the Canadians. Both countries develop good hockey players. That’s a fact.

Cam Cole, National Post --- So Canada’s under-20 national team won’t be playing for the gold medal, after getting clocked 5-1 by the United States Thursday at the world junior championship in Ufa, Russia.

So this means … what? A colossal failure? Cause for a royal commission? A closing of the borders so that those dastardly foreigners — all two of them, per team — can’t play in our major junior leagues, take spots away from our own kids, and then turn around and use what they’ve learned here to beat us over there?

Or is it simply one more chapter in the ongoing story of a sport that now belongs to the elite players of a half-dozen or more nations, not just one or two. To Americans and Swedes, to Russians and Canadians, to Finns and Swiss and Czechs.

This is also a fact that makes me very happy.

Nearly one in four NHLers is an American. And the NHL footprint has greatly increased the number of states that now produce elite junior players.

I have been reading some of the pundits break down the Canadians 4th place finish and you would think that with their line-up that the Canadians had, this would have been their year. But as we know, talent doesn’t always equal victory.

While it’s easy to bag on the Canadians for them not winning the gold. I believe that the Canadians play the game the right way. You don’t see the Canadians flailing all-over ice diving like a bunch of ballerinas. I am pointing my finger at a few of the European teams.

Lastly, going forward in the future, if the USA can’t win the gold, I would much rather see the team wearing Maple Leaf standing at their blue ling singing their national anthem than the Russians or the Swedes any day.

After being in the doghouse for what was characterized as an attitude problem, it’s nice to see USA forward Rocco Grimaldi get some sweet vindication after being the 13th forward on Monday during team USA’s win against Slovakia. This morning, Grimaldi was named the player of the game and lead Team USA with two goals, as USA beat Sweden 3-1 in the championship game of the U20 IIHF WJC. Grimaldi was two posts away from scoring a hat trick as well, but the puck never crossed the goal line.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Here is the game tying goal by Michigan and team USA defenseman Jacob Trouba with the game tying at the 13:20 mark of the second period. Trouba has been one of the USA's best players so far during the WJC.

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Here is the roster for the 2012 United States Men’s National Team Roster – IIHF Men’s World Championship [Click to view] You can see that there is a good representation of U.S. College Hockey players on the US roster.

The World Championships are on NBC Sports Network and they are going to televise 13 games from the World Championship from May 4-20, in Helsinki, Finland, and Stockholm, Sweden. All of the American games will be seen on NBCSN as well.